AFP

After more than a month of rest after 6 explosive shows in Singapore , Taylor Swift continues to bring The Eras Tour to 18 European cities. Opening this leg of the tour are 4 shows of the “snake queen” at Paris La Défense Arena (France) from May 9 to May 12. The return of the owner of the hit ” Cruel Summer” with a billion-dollar tour immediately caused a stir when she continued to treat fans to 46 hits from each “era” of her music.

In particular, Taylor’s 7 newest songs from the recently released album The Tortured Poets Department were updated to the performance list after cutting a few old songs from the previous “set list”. Fans in France couldn’t help but enjoy being the first audience to see their idol live perform a series of hits from his latest album: But Daddy I Love Him, So High School, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?, Down Bad, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived and I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.

GETTY

Forbes estimates that Swift will see 42,000 people at each of her shows in France before taking The Eras Tour to Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria. A large number of fans from the US are said to be travelling to France to see the Love Story singer perform because ticket prices in Europe are much cheaper than shows in their home countries, saving them thousands of dollars.

A fan named Georg’Ann Daly decided to celebrate her 23rd birthday by enjoying her idol’s show in France despite having to go through a long journey: taking a domestic flight from Nashville to Chicago (USA) then to London (UK) and taking a train to Paris (France). “I’ve always been obsessed with Taylor Swift,” she shared the reason with AFP. A viewer named Noah (20) said he bought tickets to all four concerts of Taylor in Paris after using up to 22 email addresses to hunt for tickets. Not only that, some of the singer’s die-hard fans have camped in Paris since May 7 to make sure they don’t miss this valuable opportunity.

GETTY

Frederic Longuépée, the managing director of Paris La Défense Arena, told NBC News that 20 to 30 percent of the crowd that came to Paris to see Taylor Swift perform was American. Hotels and restaurants in Paris were reportedly packed all weekend, and it was seen as a test of the city’s infrastructure and security ahead of another major event this summer: the 2024 Paris Olympics. “For these four nights, we will be the center of the world, which is very important to us because it’s clearly a rehearsal for the Olympics,” he said.

Europe has a strong autumn thanks to ‘storm’ Taylor Swift

AFP

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour “sweeping” Europe is predicted by experts to be a big boost to the economy of the “old continent”.

According to Forbes , Jack Ezon – founder of travel company Embark Beyond, said in Paris, the average room rate this week at luxury hotels has increased by 36% compared to the same period last year, coinciding with the four nights of the Grammy-winning star’s performance. The Paris La Défense Arena reported that merchandise sales during this time doubled the previous record.

GETTY

After Paris, the next stop of The Eras Tour is Stockholm (Sweden) next weekend. Mr. Carl Bergqvist, chief economist of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, said about 120,000 international spectators (of which about 10,000 from the US) are expected to flock to the Swedish capital this month for Taylor Swift. This person said that Stockholm is the only city in the Scandinavian region of Northern Europe that The Eras Tour visits and airlines have added flights from Denmark, Finland and Norway to serve travel needs. of everyone who came here to watch the performances from May 17 to 19.

Bergqvist said the city’s 40,000 hotel rooms were sold out despite skyrocketing prices in the days leading up to the concert. He said concertgoers were expected to inject more than $46 million into the local economy during their stay. That figure does not include the money they spent on Taylor Swift tickets or tickets to Sweden. “So this will have a huge impact on tourism in Sweden and Stockholm in particular,” he added.

GETTY

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that several European cities reported a surge in demand for hotels and short-term rentals over the summer, as the Taylor Swift “storm” hit. In Edinburgh (Scotland), Liverpool (England) and Cardiff (Wales), rooms at the Travelodge chain around the time of the singer’s concert in June were sold out as early as August 2023, a month after tickets went on sale.

Business Insider reported in December that vacation rental data company AirDNA found that demand for short-term rentals during Swift’s concerts in Vienna, Austria, and Warsaw, Poland, this summer increased by about 2,000%.

GETTY

Not only does it bring huge profits to the hotel and accommodation industry, the number of audiences coming to Europe to watch Taylor Swift perform also brings great revenue to the economy when their excitement can be converted into generous spending on food, shopping, entertainment, etc. Also through attending Taylor Swift’s shows, many people decide to turn their trip to Europe into a long vacation.

Natalia Lechmanova, chief economist at Mastercard Economics, said that compared to last year’s US leg, Taylor Swift’s European leg will have an even bigger economic impact this summer, with strong transport networks making it easier to reach venues and boosting economic benefits across Europe. “Similar to the US, smaller cities like Liverpool or Lyon are likely to be more impacted than larger hubs like London or Paris,” she added.